Chic7en Deadly Sins (Drafts)

The first three panels were intended for a show in Portland. I always wanted to do the whole series of seven, but ran out of steam. But now here I am three years later and these great ideas find me! I've spent a lot of time drawing this month, I guess having my imagination in gear all the time has paid off. I'll blog more later. Fighting a cold and I can't keep my eyes open.

"Sloth" ~ (Draft) 2014

"Glutney" ~ (Daft) 2014

"Wrath" (Draft) 2014

"Envey" ~ (Draft) 2014

"Lust" ~ (Final) ~ 2011

"Greed" ~ (Final) ~ 2011

"Pride" ~  (Final) ~ 2011

Waitresses Dig Me!

Chicken Totem of Death

Details of Chicken Totem of Death

Chicken On Stilts

Detail of Chicken On Stilts

I have been drawing in diners and fast food restaurants for years. Me and waitresses get along well. I have dated quite a few and even married a few too. I like it when they call me "Darling" or "Sweetie," and they like watching me draw and the occasional free art work!

I'm drawing at a restaurant lately that has been a round a long time. All the waitresses that wait on me have been there a long time. You can tell that when they started there, all of them use to be really cute. Now they have been there thirty years and are now in there fifty's, and well, you draw your own conclusion.

When did we become our Moms and Dads?

These drawings are ideas for something. I just don't know what. Maybe Chicken Deadly Sin?

Winship House!

Trees Draft 8/21/14 4:24 AM

I used Vicky's old house as a model. One of my favorite houses.

Read Harvey Wood By Randy Campbell Now!

First Page Illustration for Harvey Wood

As funny as it sounds I just realized that Harvey Wood is my first children’s book ~ and being that as it may ~ this book is the one I will learn what to do, and unfortunately , what not to do. I started character studies in April 2005. I’m still working on that nine years later. I am learning how consistency of design, color, and technique holds its way through the whole project. Think I have it.

Developing the world that Harvey lives in has been a real challenge. I have the story already so I know where everything begins and ends. I even have it slated to what goes on each page, but just couldn't put my finger on how it will look. Until about six months ago! I was stuck on the first page; the house in the Cascade Mountains.

I went over and over in my head, for years, what kind of house would Kelsey and McKenna live in? It took me years walking around make-believe forests looking for the right house. I finally stopped and sat down on a magic mushroom somewhere on a well-trodden path in the far reaches of my imagination, when it occurred to me to ask myself "Where would I live?" ~ Well I knew that right away! From then on everything clicked.

I lived in northern California for a year after I got out of college in 1987. It was near my grandpa and all my aunts and uncles and cousins. In fact I worked for one of my uncles. It was a dream come true. My aunt bought my cousin and I tickets to U2 in Oakland, so I needed a date. I thought of this girl named Barbie right away. She was nice. We talked at church a lot. She was pretty, smart, kind and she laughed at my jokes. But what attacked me to her the most was that she agreed to go out with me at all!

I drove to her house and parked my car. What a great house! It had a lot of history. My uncle and cousins talked a lot about it when I got to work on Monday. Over the next year I was there all the time. Hanging out with them shaped who I was for years to come.

I wish I was a stronger writer so that I could tell you more. There was a cool fireplace, french doors, and a huge staircase. Barbie had a lot of brothers and sisters. I think a million people lived in that house! I told you the Vicky story already. She was Barbie's younger sister and she was sitting in the living room of this house the first time I saw her.


...and though that house and all it's people are now only memories,
~ thank goodness some memories last forever.




About the drawing. It still need to be painted but I'm on my way. This project has taken so long we now have to consider formatting for iPads and such.

Still shaky. They put me back on the blue pill this week. It hasn't kicked in yet. It wasn't too bad tonight. So that's a good thing.

Nite!

Hi ~ It's Me ~ Ian!

Ian wearing his shirt from Cafepress.

You remember Ian's penguin?! Well I bought him this shirt for his birthday in January. It was 3 sizes to big then, and I thought I would have to buy a new one. Nope! He grew into this one! It's super cool to see them growing up.

View "Ian's Penguin Poster" ~ Post 5/10/2010

View The David Street Art Store At Cafepress

So ~ I got married

It lasted 59 days ~ not one of my finer moments!

But really, I think I'll take a Mulligan on this one, while trying not to let this grind me down to a complete stop. As for the picture, it's just a journal entry now. This was all part of a plan I had to take her to the zoo here in Boise ~ and in front of the penguin tanks give her a pebble (heart shaped) like penguins do ~ but even that blew up in my face.

You know ~ I wanted the picture to be something she would keep on her wall forever. Now it's nothing I'd even print or show. (Nice colors though:)

The Street Family Cooperative

Illustration by Me ~ of Griffin ~ 2014

Illustration by Griffin Street ~ of me ~ 2014

See Other Post

Traffic Light Project

It's that time again!

Traffic Box Call-to-Artist

Artists are invited to apply for an opportunity to design art for traffic control boxes. Several creative folks will be selected and others added to a "Registry" for future traffic box projects.

Since 2009, the Mayor's Neighborhood Reinvestment Program, Capital City Development Corporation, and Boise City have provided funding in partnership with the Downtown Neighborhood Association and the Downtown Boise Association to commission Idaho artists to design murals for Ada County Highway District
traffic control boxes in Boise. 70 are wrapped. Artists who have designed a box before are eligible to re-apply, however the selection panel may give preference to artists who have not yet participated. Boise's Department of Arts & History is facilitating artist selection process and project management.

TO APPLY

1. Artists send in ten digital visual examples of past work, letter of interest and resume (72 dpi jpgs).

2. A selection committee made up of representatives from stakeholder groups will review the applications and choose artists with whom to work. Additional artists will be selected for Traffic Box "Registry" so that if, in the next year, additional funds are available to transform other boxes, artists from the registry will be selected to create designs.

3. Selected artists will be paid $1,000 to design one mural each, featuring a community-related theme, using provided templates as a guide. Artists do not fabricate or install the final art on the box.

4. The fabricator will take the artist designs (which can be prepared as illustrations, paintings, computer designed images, quilts, mosaics, photographed sculptures or photographs), transform them into a vinyl wrap, and then apply them to the traffic boxes.

5. Artworks will be celebrated with a dedication and walking tours on a date to be announced.

Georgia In Space

This is a follow up of sorts to "Brady Bunch on Acid". It is part of the never-ending saga that is my family. This piece entitled "Georgia in Space" is an idea I've had for months and months. I even drew it on a Post-it note and carried it around in my wallet for awhile.

In this episode our girl finds herself lost in tall-tall grass in her front yard, pulling a humongous chawahwah,  wearing a pink tutu, riding in a tiny red wagon...That's it! I got nuthin' else. No parable. No deep meaning. No political overtones. Just what you see in front of you. Sometimes a chawahwah wearing a pink tutu is just a chawahwah wearing a pink tutu!

Owner ~ Proprietor ~ Wonderaficionado

Donnie!

So it all begins. Donnie is in gold holding the sign. I'm next to her in red. We were 5!

Design for Donnie's Tattoo Oct 2013

She was the quintessential hot cutie pie older girl
(she graduated a year before me in high school).
She was our school's Spirit leader. Five foot nothing. They could toss her five ways till Sunday; Which is what also made her bad ass. She was part of the popular crowed and I was part of the future felon's society. Let's put it this way, if it were a John Hughes movie she was Molly Ringwald and, well I wasn't even Judd Hurst, I was Anthony Michael Hall!

But never mind that. Mine was a silent crush, and all of that is pleasant memories in the wind.
I'm so pleased that she wanted some of my art for her own!
Love you Donnie!

Tattoo!

iPhone Case from Cafepress

David Street Art ~ Cafepress.com

Check Out David Street Art At Cafepress.com

Girl with Fish

Girl with Fish (2014)

"The world would be a better place if we were to see more young women holding a fish, than holding their camera in front of a bathroom mirror doing a selfie," said Sarah Palin, according to E! Online

If you look around you'll find hundreds of "Girls With Fish" like the one above.

I decided to make one of my own.

No. 15

Self Portrait No.15 with body

Self Portrait No.15

I don't know what draws me to these self portraits ~ the narcissism that it takes to keep doing these things kindda makes me cringe.

An Introduction To The Art of David Street

Wasn’t much of a reader until I got into my twenties; I still don’t read for enjoyment. I was held back in second grade, because my ability to read was so below par. They put me in glasses to see if that would help, but in the end, it was just to many blows to the head as a little kid coming back to haunt me.

My spelling and grammar are embarrassing; I don’t hand write very much these days. I’ve become so dependent on spell check. I believe in a God with a wicked sense of humor, why else would He give me such a wonderful gift to visualize worlds without end, and not to be able to see the difference between the words “Horse” and “House” ~ or ~ “Country” and “County” ?

But I’m not mad.

There are so many people in my circle of friends that don't have these problems, and they keep an eye on me so that I don't get out of control. There was this one time when I was fifteen, I was ask to make the signs for a church car wash. I had about a half a dozen finished, as I was handing them out. My friend said, “You spelt something wrong!” ~ I was sure I had doubled checked everything ~ “You spelt wash wrong” he said. “No I didn’t!” I replied with little bit of a pissy tone.

There is something you need to know; my family talk’s funny. We have our own way about us. Like saying “flea-bargain” instead of plea-bargain, or “kennigarden” instead on kindergarten. I had No idea for many years. So when I was called on my poster I said “What?” ~ Car WARSH ~ C~A~R~W~A~R~S~H” ~ He just looked at me. I redid the posters without another word.

So here I am at fifty one with a wild hair to do a book about my art work.

I have a title “Hi! My name is David Street ~ what’s your name? ~ you gotta a dog?!” The title is on loan from my number three son, Harrison. He was about four, and he would go up to complete strangers, shake their hand, and introduce himself  “Hi! My name is Harrison Street ~ what’s your name? ~ you gotta a dog?! It was so cool to watch him move so effortlessly in this world! He’s almost eighteen and he’s still doing it. I love it! What a great example he is to me.

The stories and art are mostly from the blog. In fact, I have a favor. Will you tell me some of your favorites? I would like to make sure those get in. Thank you. Have a good night.

Facebook Ad No. 5

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Felix Navidad, Merii Kurisumasa, Frohe Weihnachten, Nollaig Shona Dhuit, Glaedelig Jul, Joyeux Noel.

Burning Down the House

Took down my art show from the University of Phoenix today. It was up for 17 months. Great experience. Sold some pieces, but even better, it bolstered my self convenience. I tell my kids, with every new challenge you are going to feel a little insecure, it's normal, but give it sometime, after awhile you're going to feel like you were born there!
Thanks to everybody who bought some art.

You can still get all of the shows pieces at the website.
www.davidstreetart.com

Lucky No. 7

Last of the penguins. My kids and friend Debbie nudged this one out of me, otherwise I was feeling I was near the end. It is time to go forward with other projects ~ hopefully they will bring as much joy to all of us as these guys did. Big smile!

Love It So Much, I Think I'll Marry It!

It's been said ~

"Good Artists Copy ~ Great Artists Steal"


That quote has been attributed to Picasso, Steve Jobs, T.S. Eliot just to mention a few ~ Well I do not know who to believe, but I do know a lot of heavy lifting has been going on for centuries by both sorts. I have been eyeballing my own subject for years, only to have found I am about 100 years too late.

I posted a story about Sherlock Holmes's creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle last year. Use the link provided and have a look see. Remind yourself that there were some girls that had everybody in a whirl about photographs they took of fairies. Now I'm not here to step on any fairies or anyone's belief in them ~ I did however love the illustrations by Claude Shepperson that others have said were the bases of the girls fairies.

This comparison would not have been possible if someone hadn't been poking around old children's books. So, thanks to them, I have been doing some heavy lifting of my own this weekend. Again the target is Claude's wonderful ladies from 1913. Most especially the one in the middle. (See illustrations below)

I've tried to keep his lines and the flow of the figure. What sparked my imagination was how light and airy she is. My contribution was to make mine feel even lighter, almost as if she were in flight. And of course color. I really nailed it there. If I'm allowed to say so myself. This figure is earmarked for an up coming job, but if that doesn't happen, I will surly do something grand with her!

Illustration for Alfred Noyes' poem "A Spell for a Fairy" in Princess Mary's Gift Book by Claude Shepperson. (Hodder and Stoughton, no date, c. 1914, p. 101ff). Compare the poses of these figures with those of three of the fairies in Photo No. 1. The figures have been rearranged and details of dress have been altered, but the origin of the poses is unmistakable.

Photo No 1. July 1917

Read Full Story of Sherlock Holmes and The Fairies

"Kathrine the Great"

This is the Batman costume my sister bought for me! I love the internet.

"Kathrine the Great"  ~ 2014

This is one of my favorite stories: I was four if I remember right. It has been over forty five years now; funny how something’s just stick with you. I was four and my sister Kathy was sixteen. When she was at school I would sneak into her bed room and steal the black leotards off this big doll she owned. I would then put them on with my “tighty whiteys” on the outside. After all, Batman wore his underwear on the outside didn’t he?! ~

I was happy to play that way all day, leotards, underwear on the outside, bath towel around my neck, and white hi-top tennis shoes, or at least till she got home! As I look back on it, why didn’t someone get me my own pair of tights? I remember Kathy getting mad at me, probably yelling and getting my Mom involved. Hey! That’s right, where was my Mom when I was getting into my sister’s room?! I remember one time; I was climbing up on one of my sister’s doll’s baby hi-chairs to turn on the lights and taking a header. That was probably the last time I tried that.  I ended up with a big goose egg on head that time.

To my sister’s credit she bought me a Batman helmet and cape for Christmas thinking it would keep her dolly’s nickers on! Can you imagine her frustration the first time she came home from school and there I was in the front yard with my Christmas present and her doll’s tights on!